IPB Researchers Encouraged the Development TOGA for Economic Development
TOGA (Tanaman Obat Keluarga Family Medicinal plants) is an effort to improve the utilization of medicinal plants. Besides as a means of maintaining public health, Toga serves as a means of reforestation, conservation of nature, improve nutrition, income distribution, spread of greening movement and the beauty of the yard or the environment. TOGA program besides reducing family spending on medicines, also serves as sources of medicinal plants supply for traditional industries and a means to increase people’s income.
A group of researchers of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) implemented the research program on analysis and identification of TOGA for community development in Bogor Regency. The group consisted of Mirza, Siti Amanah and Dwi Sadono of the Department of Communications and Community Development Science, the Faculty of Human Ecology, of Bogor Agricultural University (FEMA-IPB). Medicinal plants is essentially a good piece of land in our backyard, garden or fields that are used to grow plants that have medicinal properties in order to meet family needs for drugs, and it relates to the dynamics of farmer groups in supporting the sustainability of family medicinal plant business in Bogor Regency.
The research was carried out for three months from August to October 2016, in Bogor Regency, especially in Babakan Village, Dramaga District and Benteng Village, Ciampea District.
Result of research indicated, that woman farmer groups of Toga were dynamic in their organizational structure, atmosphere and leadership. The results show that factors for successful implementation of the TOGA development program of the areas were well-participated by the community for the sustainability of the family medicinal plant business such as the level of family income, the intensity of counselling and its effects on social and economic aspects.
Siti Amanah said, medicinal plants are widely used in traditional medicine in both underdeveloped and developing countries in the word until now. Some secondary metabolites isolated from medicinal plants have been developed as modern drugs. TOGA cultivation in Babakan Village, Dramaga District and Benteng Village, Ciampea District have been practiced for a long time. Now in the yard of the village community has been easy to find a variety of medicinal plants both on land that special TOGA development. There are two important aspects of medical aspects related to its wide use worldwide and economic aspects related to the creation of economic value-added that is beneficial to mankind. "Therefore, Toga's business continuity in both economic, ecological and social aspects needs to be improved through groups of women farmers by increasing group dynamics," she said.
"Group of Women Farmers or often abbreviated KWT, it is one of the institutional structure of farmers whose members consist of women who are engaged in agricultural activities," she said.
She added that in supporting the successful development of sustainable agriculture, especially family medicinal plants, each farmer group has four functions, namely as a learning unit, production cooperation, and business. If all four functions are well under way, it is hoped that women farmer groups will become productive and economically sustainable, ecologically and socially sustainable groups. (Wied)
